Healing is a long process and it’s a long journey. There’s no right way to heal and realistically there’s no right way to forget. You don’t have to forget your deepest pain and you shouldn’t. It scarred you but it also changed you. It wounded your soul but it also taught you the art of surviving. The art of choosing to live and fight for your happiness.
Healing means you remember everything but it doesn’t hurt anymore. You look at the people who hurt you and you don’t feel a thing. You look at them and they don’t have that power anymore. They don’t have the power to ruin your day and your life. You’ve overcome their demons and their ghosts. You’ve let their toxicity go. They’re the reason why you understand that you’re better off without some people. They’re the reason why you understand that some people have to go for better people to come along.
Healing means you know that some broken pieces of you will never be the same again but that will never stop you from loving again with all your heart, from believing again after losing all hope, from starting over after hitting rock bottom. Healing means you’re not scared of getting hurt again because you know how to bounce back and you know life will never be free of pain.
Don’t listen to people who ask you to forget about your problems or your pain or your heartbreak, you can’t just forget something that changed you forever, you can’t just forget someone who meant the world to you, you can’t just forget and you shouldn’t put that kind of pressure on yourself.
Healing means you show off your scars with pride. It means you tell your painful stories with wisdom. It means you forgive yourself for allowing people to hurt you. It means you don’t define yourself by the people who broke your heart. It means speaking softly about yourself instead of blaming yourself for the pain you had to endure.
Healing doesn’t mean forgetting, it means remembering everything but instead of letting it weigh you down, let it lift you up. You still smile. You still love. You still give. You still believe. The pain won’t stop you from living.
Healing is a reminder that nothing was ever strong enough to break you.
By Rania Naim for ThoughtCatalog